Author Doug Stanton chronicles the details of the fate of the USS Indianapolis, a WWII military tragedy which took place four years after Pearl Harbor.

On July 30, 1945, after completing a top secret mission to deliver parts of the atom bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine.

An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained, undetected by the navy, for nearly five days. By the time rescue all but 321 men had lost their lives.

Please send your questions.

Yoba Linda:
Was this the enola gay of ships?

Doug Stanton:
The Indianapolis was the link to the atomic bomb "Little Boy." Interesting questions.Germantown, MD:
What happened to the the ships captain?

Doug Stanton:
Yes. Captain Charles McVay was the only captain to be court marshalled as part of an acto of war. It is recognized as the worst desaster at sea. In 1968 he was still destraught over the massive loss of life and later committed suicide. Survivors sought to clear McVay's name and on April 27 2001 renewed publicity about the case -- the Navy indictatedd that they would revisit the issue. In 1990s they had looked at the situation and at that time chose not to look into it.Houston TX:
Did this incident have anything to do with Pearl Harbor?

Doug Stanton:
Great question. The irony of this story is that Pearl Harbor began WWII for America. The sinking of this ship was the end of the war for the US. You can't find many references to this incident in very many history books. Whta people have told me is that this book has been the untold story of their survival. The country wasn't interested in their story and the survivors at the time were not interested in telling it.San Francisco CA:
I had a relative who pershised on this mission. did you speak with survivors to do this project?

Doug Stanton:
I first met over 80 of the survivors in July of 1999 at one of their reunions in Indianapolis. The book is based on hundreds of pages of interviews with survivors. Additionally I interviewed the rescue crews involved. I wanted to tell the story from the survivors point of view at eye level with this rolling sea. If only 317 of 1196 survive the question that obsessed me -- and the question they wnated to talk about--- was: how.

These guys are the ultimate survivors. Harm's Way is a story about surviving insurmountable odds. It is an astounding tale of ordinary people suffering something truly extrodinary.

Doug Stanton:
The surviors were rescued totally by accident. Nearly four days after their sinking a pilot happened to look down at the ocean and catch the glint of an oil ship on the sea. Had he not looked down at that exact second he would have misssed the glint alltogether and one of the great mysteries of WWII would have been the disappearance of the ship alltogether. When the pilot radioed back to his command it set in motion one of the largest Naval rescue efforts in Naval history.

It took a week for the total search area to be combed and for crews to be identified.

First the survivors were being attacked by the elements as they float in the South Pacific, the hot sun. At night it would get bone chillingly cold. Shortly after the sinking they begin to be attacked from below by sharks. These predetors start to bettle their own thirst and hunger and finally their own minds as they struggle to remain sane. One of the most astounding things people were endured hypernadertemia that causes a kind of phsical apocalypse as the brain "shorts out."

They were having visions of the boat actually sail back to life. They start to swim down to it and drink fresh water from an imaginary water fountain.San Antonio:
have there been any major movies done on this incident

Doug Stanton:
No.Rosemont CA:
What was the Indianapolis doing?

Doug Stanton:
The Indianapolis was headed towards the Phillipines to participate in training with regard to the invasion of Japan at the end of 1945.Zanesville, OH:
Did the Navy ever muster the duty and responsibility to acknowledge their ineptitude for this tragedy?

Doug Stanton:
No.
This is one of the overlooked and forgoten tradgedies of WWII.Roanoke VA:
Why was the captain courtmartialed?

Doug Stanton:
In a several weeks period the military enjoys it's victory over Japan and the end of WWII and its greatest debacle. The sinking of the Indianapolis is the worst desaster at sea in Naval US history. The country is confused and outraged that so many young men could die at wars end.Comment from Doug Stanton:
In Harm's Way is a story about the sea at its worst and its best. This disaster is the inspiration for what I think is the best scene in the movie Jaws. Before writing the book and because you can't find the story in history books-- what I knew about the crew and the history com

Capt. Quinn is a fictional survivor of the USS Indianapolis. His monologue is mesmerizing but not totally accurate. What the survivors have told me since the book came out is that IN HARMS WAY tells the story of what really happened to them because there were equally horrifying ways to die as well.

Writing the book has been the most rewarding experience for me as a writer. I hope that more people would learn more about this incident through the book and care more about Capt. McVay's court marshall today.

The response to the book has been overwhelming. One survivor told me that he would hand this book down to his family after he's gone. The point is this was an incredibly historic ordeal involving th end of the war but the book gets to the intimate details of the real people involved. It has been an honor to tell the story that way. Last night there were three survivors (Roman's Book Store in Pasedena California). There were family of survivors as well as the daughter of Chuck Quinn. In ever city I go to it never fails that there is someone in the audience connected somehow to the ship. The goal of the book is to deflect attention on to the people who survived the incident.

These people involved were ordinary citizens who went through something extrodinary. The things they learned-- the wisdom they hauled with them from the ocean made me rethink my own sense of responsibility.Comment from Doug Stanton:
Some of the most moving letters are from young women who are reading the book themselves. The point was that if I wrote the story in a dramatic way that would grab the reader in an emotional way and that connection would make them care about Captain McVay today. It took two years to write the book but I can't tell you how many people said they have read it in one night. I wanted to tell the story as if I was sitting around the kitchen table because of the mythical proportions, like "once upon a time there was some sailors etc..."
It has been humbling and an honor to know that the story is reaching so many people.Comment from Doug Stanton:
The book is on the NYT Bestseller List but even if it weren't this book would still seem a big success to me.